I'd like to agree, and I think I probably do. But there's always that feeling things have gone better garage wise for Rosberg, and that comment by Schumacher some time ago about it being odd his wing was 6 degrees out/ different, that sticks in the mind.

But it is far more likely the Brackley team have simply been half arsed and generalyl pathetic, more than there's been subterfuge to ruin Schumacher whilst there.

Why? Schmacher was the one who refused to give Mercedes an answer on whether he wants to stay or go. They approached the Lewis camp after Canada. If anyone is to blame it's schumacher, he tried the same stunt with Kimi blocking him from coming in 2006. Good thing Mercedes put their foot down.

If someone like Schumacher is hesitant with the answer one must also think what he sees in the future from his position.

If someone like Schumacher is hesitant with the answer one must also think what he sees in the future from his position.

Ask any driver on the grid or in a lower formula, who was without a contract, if he wants to drive for Mercedes in 2013. The answer would be an immediate yes. Schumacher got what he wanted. Good luck to him

Ask any driver on the grid or in a lower formula, who was without a contract, if he wants to drive for Mercedes in 2013. The answer would be an immediate yes. Schumacher got what he wanted. Good luck to him

Any other driver without a contract is fighting for his career which to date was likely average at best.

MSC on the other hand is in a position to choose. The man is 43 years old, loves racing, has proven to still have the speed hence can still have a seat on merit! He can drive F1 car in a world clas championship because he is that bad ass. Yes good seats are taken, so what? Perhaps now its time to go spend that 1B of hard earned cash.

This is what I've been thinking. Theres no way they'll allow Michael to race Nico now, more failures incoming.

I was going to skip watching Suzuka anyway due to the 10 place drop but now my 2012 season is over, I won't be watching any more races. Theres no point, Schumi simply won't be allowed to race..

I swear each time a Merc DNF's from next season onwards I'll open a beer and celebrate.. they lost many fans today.

yeah,but my post was a sarcastic one. they surely won't miss out on some of the money prize just to justify dropping MS for some hardcore fans? a great counter-argument is 2009 ferrari, look at what a great second half Kimi had there, but still got dropped. ferrari didn't care how stupid it will look, they just went fullthrottle, and nearly edged mclaren for 3rd in wcc with only 1 driver, and with a car that wasn't upgraded after hungary.

Ask any driver on the grid or in a lower formula, who was without a contract, if he wants to drive for Mercedes in 2013. The answer would be an immediate yes. Schumacher got what he wanted. Good luck to him

"would have been able to sign if he had wanted to earlier in the summer"

We are not in his mind and we don't know what he thinks, but he for sure didn't want to continue with Mercedes. He has enough. He is the guy who do what he want to do, no buts, no ifs. Get it. 1B baby. Michael Schumacher is the only driver that can say to Mercedes to go f......... . In the end they get the hint and contacted Lewis to save their face. Take that "my friend"

Maybe the future was that he saw was being beaten by his team mate 4 years in a row? How much more can one destroy their legacy?

He destroy what? That was good one, I will tell him. Poor him. Probably he understand that they can't provide good car and he didn't want to stay in midfield until he reached 50.He matched all guys this year. His car was not match to other cars and often didn't finish.

I know that Schumacher hesitating to re-sign is not the team's fault. But as somebody said somewhere else already: I hope them to do real bad next year. Over the past three years, the team has been a horrible mistake, a huge disappointment, and I only clinged to them to see Schumacher take a final victory. Now that this probably won't happen, I hope they continue as they did up to now.

But now that I've said this, I don't exclude Hammo to be WDC in 2014, to be honest!

He destroy what? That was good one, I will tell him. Poor him. Probably he understand that they can't provide good car and he didn't want to stay in midfield until he reached 50.He matched all guys this year. His car was not match to other cars and often didn't finish.

Are you telling me being beaten by his team mate 3 years in a row wont have an effect on his decision? If Schumi was beating Nico for 3 years he would stay on and hope for a better car. You obviously underestiamte the effect of being beaten by your team mate 3 years in a row despite being the prefered driver.

Are you telling me being beaten by his team mate 3 years in a row wont have an effect on his decision? If Schumi was beating Nico for 3 years he would stay on and hope for a better car. You obviously underestiamte the effect of being beaten by your team mate 3 years in a row despite being the prefered driver.

I guess you didn't see 2011 and 2012 seasons to tell me he was beaten? 2011 they were equal, MS with more DNF. This year he was better most of the times - in Q and races. And he get 5 team/car related DNFs and 2 DNF by his mistakes. Come back again.

I guess you didn't see 2011 and 2012 seasons to tell me he was beaten? 2011 they were equal, MS with more DNF. This year he was better most of the times - in Q and races. And he get 5 team/car related DNFs and 2 DNF by his mistakes. Come back again.

I don't understand then why you are not very happy MSC has left Mercedes and will no doubt have lots of offers due to his current ability in a more reliable car?

We are not in his mind and we don't know what he thinks, but he for sure didn't want to continue with Mercedes. He has enough. He is the guy who do what he want to do, no buts, no ifs. Get it. 1B baby. Michael Schumacher is the only driver that can say to Mercedes to go f......... . In the end they get the hint and contacted Lewis to save their face. Take that "my friend"

From what I read wasn't the main reason Michael Schumacher never signed is because he was only offered a 1 year contract, and tried to hold out for more?

Instead Mercedes chose to pursue Hamilton where talks began as early as Canada.

Hardly sounds like him firing Merc.

Anyway I'm sure this should be being discussed in the official Schumacher thread.

It will be interesting to see remaining 6 races how things will develop. I think team will have full support for Schumacher to try make some result that will be remembered but that will be hard with bad car and hes driving lately. Posts about future sabotages from Mercedes seems ridiculous to me.

From what I read wasn't the main reason Michael Schumacher never signed is because he was only offered a 1 year contract, and tried to hold out for more?

Instead Mercedes chose to pursue Hamilton where talks began as early as Canada.

Hardly sounds like him firing Merc.

Anyway I'm sure this should be being discussed in the official Schumacher thread.

Rumors. Who was eager to sign the other - MGP or Michael? Everything point to Mercedes. Michael didn't bother. He is in the team, if he didn't bother there is reason for this. Maybe next year we will find out why.Maybe he just decided he will retire, and he will announce it in October as he promised. Mercedes couldn't push him to announce his plans. It will be a different matter if he sign another team.

We are not in his mind and we don't know what he thinks, but he for sure didn't want to continue with Mercedes. He has enough. He is the guy who do what he want to do, no buts, no ifs. Get it. 1B baby. Michael Schumacher is the only driver that can say to Mercedes to go f......... . In the end they get the hint and contacted Lewis to save their face. Take that "my friend"

For sure Mercedes wanted to see Michael signing the new contract asap, but what kind of contract? a one year deal? is that the reason why Michael opted to walk away? does anyone know what was on that contract? As I see it, there is much more in the soup than Michael firing Mercedes.

Niki Lauda has come in as a no nonsense and ruthless figure to do the dirty work when required. Brawn was being too sentimental and 'nice' when it came to Schumacher. It was time for the team to make a much needed change. Hamilton has a bit of that hardness about him also. The team just need to sort out the car in the remaining races. One good result will bode well for the future.

As for Michael.. probably has a couple of good options, including retiring from racing taking a role within Sauber etc.

As for MS.. for Haug to come out so blantantly and say how they have been paying a significant part of Lewis salary.. AMG MGP board was probably.. why the hell are we paying for 3 drivers .. their driver budget is probably the highest in all of F1 as a result and yet, not giving a car that is fast to even remotely make sense of that.

From purely business perspective.. AMG MGP this was by far the wisest of decisions. I do not see any reason to think that MGP will make any kind of 0.7s leap need to truly contend at the top 3-4 spots of the grid on merit on race pace (not qualifying pace). So having MS, Nico and Lewis on their pay doesn't make sense.

From purely business perspective.. AMG MGP having MS is a liablity as they are not giving him the proper equipment to justify having him on board. It just draws more unneeded attention to a struggling team lost in how to use tires. Granted, it`s not as if Lewis isn`t going to take any spotlight off of them.. but maybe dim it significantly.

For MS.. he has easily proven the last half of 2011 and this season that he easily still has it and deserves a top ride. If it weren`t for the teams technical failures and a couple of lapses in judgement he`d be having a stellar season. Only problem is.. where to next.. the only suitable 3 drives would be RedBull, Ferrari or McLaren. Lotus I personally feel will pretty much be a sidestep from Mercedes and if anything, a step back. Too small, poorly funded too boot.

I would love to see Schumi-Newey combo finally come to light but that could only happen if Ferrari take Webber which I just don`t see happening. But Webber would probably be a really good pairing for Fernando. Just capable enough but knows who to tow the line and be supportive of a team mate that is stronger if it panes out that.

Little tidbit when Brawn was telling motorsport-total.com that they are not taking their foot off the gas for 2013.He say Costa is concentrating on the 2013 car, while Willis is overseeing the 2014 car.http://www.motorspor...n_12100443.html

Nico had an engine change but fortunately no penalty, and michael spun before the spoon i think.

After the FP1 they had to change both the front and rear suspension on the Schumacher's car, and they were not ready by the start of FP2.He had break failures in FP1-FP3 in Singapore.Rosberg had an engine failure in FP1 today. I do not know what will happen to them tomorrow. May be a failure of either hydraulic or electrical system.

Little tidbit when Brawn was telling motorsport-total.com that they are not taking their foot off the gas for 2013.He say Costa is concentrating on the 2013 car, while Willis is overseeing the 2014 car.http://www.motorspor...n_12100443.html

Mercedes struggles in high speed corners which is crucial in Suzuka, a bad result was expected but to be honest I hoped the upgrades improved the high speed handling somewhat. It doesn't look like the upgrades moved the car forward. Incredible bad development pace from Mercedes once again.